Wednesday, March 29, 2006
9:52 PM
I've found a gem in Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt which I picked up in the library one day. Here is the small section that moved me so much that I needed to let the whole world see it.
...
"Why" is the only question that bothers people enough to have an entire letter of the alphabet named after it.
The alphabet does not go "A B C D What? When? How?" but it does go "V W X Why? Z."
"Why? is always the most difficult question to answer. You know where you are when someone asks you "What's the time?" or "When was the battle of 1066?" or "How do these seatbelts work that go tight when you slam the brakes on, Daddy?" The answers are easy and are, respectively,"Seven thirty-five in the evening," "Ten-fifteen in the morning," and "Don't ask stupid questions."
But when you hear the word "WhY?," you know you've put one of the biggest unanswerables on your hands, such as "Why are we born?" or "Why do we die?" and "Why do we spend so much time of the intervening time receiving junk mail?"
Or this one:
"Will you go to bed with me?"
"Why?"
There's only ever been one good answer to that questions "Why?" and perhaps we should have that in the alphabet as well. There's room for it. "Why?" doesn't have to be the last word, it isn't even the last letter. How would it be if the alphabet ended, "V W X Why? Z," but "V W X Why not?"
Don't ask stupid questions.
-From Hockney's Alphabet
(pages 9-10 of Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt)
...
I think whenever anyone asks me a "How?" question, I'll still answer "Carefully". It's a lot more polite I think. Now I'm fully armed for my future vocation as a source of reliable and knowledgeable answers to a generation of inquisitive minds.
Comments:
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4 comment)
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why do I have to study? Why?
Why do I feel sleepy after 8 hours of sleep? Why?
Why?
Why?
Hmm come to think of it... You ask the most WHYS...
Haha!
Future generation of 'inquisitive' minds... Hmm...
Inquisitivity died a long time ago... Murdered by this sinister organisation called MOE...
Hmm...
Why?
Mind full of whys...,
Jan
Why?
Why?
Why do I have to study? Why?
Why do I feel sleepy after 8 hours of sleep? Why?
Why?
Why?
Hmm come to think of it... You ask the most WHYS...
Haha!
Future generation of 'inquisitive' minds... Hmm...
Inquisitivity died a long time ago... Murdered by this sinister organisation called MOE...
Hmm...
Why?
Mind full of whys...,
Jan
Hmmm, yes. "Why?" is indeed one of the most loathsome words in the Hockney's alphabet. Nevertheless, "Why are we here?", "Why are we born?", "Why do we die?" and other offshoots of the Ultimate Question of the Universe have a very simple answer. You should never forget it...
As said in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is simply:
42
Google supports this.
http://www.google.com/search?q=the+answer+to+life%2C+the+universe%2C+and+everything
Hope you've read the Increasingly Inaccurately Named Hitchhiker's Guide of the Galaxy Trilogy That is Actually a Quadrology. A must read.
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As said in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything is simply:
42
Google supports this.
http://www.google.com/search?q=the+answer+to+life%2C+the+universe%2C+and+everything
Hope you've read the Increasingly Inaccurately Named Hitchhiker's Guide of the Galaxy Trilogy That is Actually a Quadrology. A must read.
# posted by 
: 8:08 PM
: 8:08 PM